Accepting yourself as you are can be a hard task to master. We have been brought up with heavy social conditioning; the rise of celebrities on social media is doing absolutely nothing to help this cause. Perfectly photoshopped people are telling us to love our bodies and the flaws that we may have, without actually possessing any flaws themselves. In what seems to be a world full of perfect people, is it any wonder that we are...

becoming so obsessed with our image as themain representation of ourselves?

Don’t Judge A Book By The CoverThere is so much more to life than how we look, but it does play a huge part. Sight is one of our most powerful senses, and we assess whether someone is a threat or not based on how they look. It’s why subcultures such as the punk scene started; they wanted to seem like a political threat purely based on the way that they looked rather than their personalities. The thing is, people can’t instantly assess our personalities - as soon as they look at you they can’t tell how kind you are, how many languages you can speak, how often you help those in need or any bad stuff that you may have lurking about. All they see is what you can present to them in how you look … first impressions can count for a lot.

Happiness Excels If you can’t be happy in your own body, then make yourself happy in your own body - after all, it’s the only body that you’ll ever get. Dress how you want to, experiment with any kind of makeup. Nobody got anywhere by adhering to the idea of ‘normal’ - freedom of expression is the best way you will be able to get to the point where you are able to sit down one day, take a look at yourself and breathe a sigh of relief … you’re happy. ​

Time to Think The main thing to remember is, if you’re young, you have a lot of time to make your own path. You are not going to need a facelift doctor any time soon, but if this is the step that you need to take then go for it. Don’t be afraid to explore the notion of loving yourself and making the most of what you’ve got. Utilise the friends that you’ve got around you for the love that they show. If they aren’t helping you to feel confident in yourself, then it’s time to look for a new group of friends who are more open to the idea that you can be happy regardless of how you look. There are so many body-positive communities online that you can be a part of, and with this advance in technology you aren’t having to rely on your soulmate living within a 5 mile radius - you could meet them just by sitting at your computer. The internet has opened up so many possibilities for us, especially with free-thinking and the promotion of loving yourself.